# A voice of reason from the CDC on obesity **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2005, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-voice-of-reason-from-the-cdc-on-obesity/300178 "2005-04-20T02:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-voice-of-reason-from-the-cdc-on-obesity/300178/21 "2005-04-20T23:01:01Z")
To people who seriously argue that churches shouldn’t consider aduldery a sin, being fat is a mortal sin on par with smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-voice-of-reason-from-the-cdc-on-obesity/300178/22 "2005-04-21T03:16:13Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Why shouldn’t “anything that may be obesity-related” have been counted? Aren’t those the things that actually result in death? > > From what I’ve read – including the item you linked to – the old figures were just, well, old. The discrepancy is also partly due to a lack of standards regarding the terms “overweight” and “obese.” If you’re having trouble finding any cites to support the “prejudice” claim from other than biased sources, there’s probably a reason… 😉 [http://www.techcentralstation.com/073003C.html](http://www.techcentralstation.com/073003C.html) [T]hat [300,000] figure is by no means well established. Not only is it derived from weak or incomplete data, but it is called into question by the methodologic difficulties of determining which of many factors contribute to premature death. … Calculations of attributable risk are fraught with problems … when several known factors [physical inactivity, low fitness levels, poor diet, risky weight loss practices, and less-than-adequate access to health care, to name a few] are taken into account, it is even possible that they account for more than 100 percent of deaths – a nonsensical result." People exaggerated the role obesity played in death, giving it the sole/main role when it may have had no role or only a minor role. These new studies do not do that, and as a result the death rate is 1/3 the size. And that 1/3 may involve the severely overweight. In the US, even though 60% of people are overweight about 50%+ of those people are under 40 pounds heavier than they should be, which may not have any major risks. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-voice-of-reason-from-the-cdc-on-obesity/300178/23 "2005-04-21T05:21:55Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > This was the information that I read in the article I saw about the CDC revising obesity dangers. > > The BMI charts are skewed to lower weights than average healthy Americans. For me to be at the extreme top of the healthy range I’d have to weigh 165 pounds. I weighed 160 in high school and I was sickly thin (mainly because I stopped eating for a time). My goal weight right now is 170, but a person of my height with smaller bone structure would have a healthy weight of closer to 150. I’d be obese, they’d be on the very low end of healthy. Yeah, I’m in the same boat. According to the BMI, I shouldn’t weigh more than 184 pounds. Uh… according to body fat testing, that would give me about 1% body fat, which obviously wouldn’t be healthy. If I had a healthy, (and still kinda low) 10% body fat, I’d be “overweight” according to the BMI, and at 20% body fat, I’d be almost “obese” according to the BMI. And I know people who come out “normal” on the BMI, yet who are also some of the most out of shape, flabby people ever. I can hardly believe that I’m worse off by carrying extra weight in spite of 3 times weekly cardio and weightlifting than they are by doing zilch. Although it’s a good tool for statistical analysis, I think the BMI stinks from a personal health point of view, simply because it doesn’t take into account body frame, muscle mass, or any of the other important factors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-voice-of-reason-from-the-cdc-on-obesity/300178.md?page=1)